Simplicity is a virtue

From Washington, DC,

• The Wall Street Journal reports,
  • “Republican senators stopped short of using their political leverage to kill President Trump’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, approving a critical immigration-enforcement bill without adding language reining in the controversial program.
  • “Passage of the $70 billion package funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol through the end of Trump’s second term came after a more than 19-hour session of amendment votes and intraparty negotiations. The GOP-backed measure passed 52 to 47 shortly before 5 a.m., with Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voting with Democrats against the bill.
  • “The session’s votes allowed GOP senators in competitive election fights this fall—including Susan Collins of Maine, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Jon Husted of Ohio and Ashley Moody of Florida—to register their objections to the fund without derailing a bill that is a priority for Trump and the party.
  • “The House is expected to take up the immigration-enforcement measure next week.”
    
• The No Surprises Act’s final independent dispute resolution (IDR) rule was published in the Federal Register today. Federal Hearings and Appeals Services, which a certified IDR entity, offers its summary of the rule with helpful charts!

• Federal News Network reports
  • The Postal Service, on the verge of running out of cash early next year, is pricing out a wide range of possible reforms that, if passed by Congress, could address the agency’s long-term financial problems.
  • Postmaster General David Steiner told House lawmakers in March that USPS is set to run out of cash in early 2027 and that lawmakers need to act soon to keep the agency running.
  • The agency’s wish-list of possible legislative reforms, outlined in a document titled “Accelerating Progress: Elements of Postal Reform,” includes several longstanding proposals supported by postal watchdogs and unions. The document also considers more controversial options, such as closing post offices and reducing delivery days to save USPS billions of dollars each year.

• Per a House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform news release,
  • “Subcommittee on Government Operations Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) delivered his opening statement at today’s hearing with the Commissioners of the Postal Regulatory Commission. In his opening remarks, Subcommittee Chairman Sessions highlighted the financial crisis the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is facing and how actions to reform the agency have fallen short of expectations. He also emphasized that Congress and the American people have to decide what they want out of USPS to help resolve procedural and financial issues in the agency.” 

• The OPM Director Scott Kupor added to his Secrets of OPM blog (available on LinkedIn and Substack) concerning a Presidential Memorandum approving the use of critical position pay to support investment programs related to national security.

• Tammy Flangan, writing in Govexec, discusses whether a record number of new retirees this year will slow your retirement claim.
  • “New OPM data offers clues about processing times, potential delays and why retiring employees may need a larger financial cushion than expected.” 
    
• Per a National Institutes of Health news release,
  • “National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., today announced the selection of Steven Schiff, M.D., Ph.D., as the next director of the Fogarty International Center (FIC) and NIH associate director for international research. Schiff began his role on June 4, 2026. 
  • “A pediatric neurosurgeon and global health researcher, Schiff currently serves as the Harvey and Kate Cushing Professor of Neurosurgery, vice chair for global health in the Department of Neurosurgery, and professor of epidemiology and of electrical and computer engineering at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.” * * *
  • “As director of FIC, Schiff will lead NIH’s global health research efforts by supporting collaborations between U.S. and international investigators, strengthening partnerships among research institutions worldwide, and training future global health scientists. He will oversee the center’s approximately $95 million annual budget, most of which supports research grants and training programs.” 

• Beckers Health IT lets us know,
  • “The White House is backing a push for AI to take over more of the duties of physicians, The Washington Post reported.
  • “The Trump administration supports an experiment in Utah where AI is writing prescriptions, plans to offer over $50 million in research awards to developers of conversational AI for cardiovascular care, has created an expedited approval process for digital health products like AI chatbots, and is working on a regulatory pathway for independent AI physicians, according to the June 4 story.
  • “People are seeing the difference the AI is bringing,” Amy Gleason, the administrator of the Department of Government Efficiency who is now a healthcare AI advisor at HHS, told the news outlet. “And it’s like the genie is out of the bottle.”
• and
  • “HHS, under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has sought access to detailed patient records held by state health information exchange systems as part of an effort to research a potential link between vaccines and autism, KFF Health News reported June 4.
  • “Federal officials met with leaders of state-run health information exchanges several times over the past year, asking how the medical records they maintain from hospitals and health systems could be used for vaccine research, according to seven people familiar with the meetings.”

From the Food and Drug Administration front,

• STAT News reports,
  • “Leaders at the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday listened to criticisms and recommendations for how to move forward with a speedy drug review program put in place by former FDA commissioner Marty Makary. 
  • “The listening session, held on the FDA’s White Oak Campus, featured 17 speakers representing patient groups, drug companies, and academic organizations. Some had positive feedback, particularly those whose drugs have already been approved through the program. But most asked the agency to pause the program, and then bring it back through normal regulatory procedures that require public feedback.” 

• Per a corporate news release,
  • “Global pharmaceutical leader Lupin Limited (Lupin) (BSE: 500257) (NSE: LUPIN) (REUTERS: LUPIN.BO) (BLOOMBERG: LPCIN) today announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA) has approved its ranibizumab, Ranluspec™ (ranibizumab-hkdz), as an interchangeable biosimilar referencing to Lucentis® (Genentech).”

• Reuters relates,
  • “The U.S. FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research said on Wednesday it has accepted a letter of intent for ​an artificial intelligence-based drug development tool designed to ‌help predict drug-induced liver injury.
  • ‘Drug-induced liver damage is a major cause of trial failures, and current methods do not reliably ​predict human risk. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said ​the tool could potentially help improve early safety assessments, reduce reliance ⁠on animal testing and support more informed decisions before human trials ​begin.’

From the judicial front,

• Bloomberg Law reports,
  • “The US Supreme Court raised the bar for branded pharmaceutical companies seeking to sue over a competitor’s generic versions of their drugs that are marketed using what’s called a skinny label.
  • “The justices unanimously concluded that a district court judge was right to dismiss Amarin Pharma Inc.’s infringement suit over claims that Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. was encouraging doctors to prescribe its generic version of Amarin’s Vascepa heart health drug for a still-patented treatment method.
  • “Drugmakers frequently obtain patents not just on chemical compounds they discover for novel drugs, but separately for methods of using such drugs to treat various medical conditions. When some uses are covered by active patents while others aren’t, generics can get government approval of a “skinny label” that carves out the patented uses.
  • “Thursday’s ruling ramps up the evidence that branded drugmakers need in order to sue when they think the generic label in combination with a generic company’s marketing statements or other communications cross a line into actively inducing patent infringement.”

From the public health and medical / Rx research front,

• The New York Times reports,
  • “Scientists have made a discovery that may help prevent some people from developing lung cancer, which kills more people worldwide than any other cancer. 
  • “A team of more than 80 researchers working across four continents have identified a set of proteins in the blood that accurately predict lung cancers more than five years before diagnosis. The scientists also found early evidence that an existing anti-inflammatory drug could significantly reduce lung cancer risk in people with elevated concentrations of these proteins, which they linked to inflammation.
  • “More research is needed before a test based on these proteins could be ready for use in patients. And scientists would still need to run a randomized trial to determine whether the drug prevents lung cancers. Still, outside experts said the findings, which were published on Thursday in the journal Cell, offer a promising starting point toward a long-held public health goal.”

• The Washington Post adds,
  • “The story of GLP-1 drugs keeps getting bigger.
  • “First they transformed the treatment of diabetes. Then they upended the science — and culture — of weight loss. Now a growing body of research is raising another possibility: that these drugs may help protect against cancer.
  • “At this year’s American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Chicago, more than 40 studies, abstracts, oral presentations and poster presentations examined the relationship between GLP-1-based drugs and cancer. The results were strikingly consistent. Taken together, they suggest that people taking medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro may develop certain cancers at lower rates than comparable patients who are not taking the drugs — and that those already diagnosed may experience a slower decline and better outcomes.
  • “For oncologists, the accumulation of evidence is hard to dismiss. The findings are “super promising,” said Mark Orland, a cancer researcher at the Cleveland Clinic. “We’re really excited to be on the forefront of looking at the effects of these drugs.”

• Health Day relates,
  • “A simple urine test might help identify children who are likely to have autism earlier than the best assessment tools now available, a new study says.
  • “Autistic children appear to have specific gut microbe profiles that can be used to distinguish them from neurotypical (or typically developing) children, researchers reported May 26 in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.
  • “A urine test based on these profiles correctly identified 90% of autistic children and did not misidentify any children without autism, researchers found.
  • “What’s really striking about the bacteria is that they make metabolites that are basically altered versions of serotonin and dopamine,” said researcher James Adams, a professor of engineering at the Biodesign Center for Health Through Microbiomes at Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe.”
• and
  • “Mailed fecal immunochemical tests (FITs) can significantly increase colorectal cancer (CRC) screening across racial and ethnic groups, according to a study published in the May/June issue of the Annals of Family Medicine.
  • “Anisha P. Ganguly, M.D., from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and colleagues compared the effects of a CRC intervention (mailed FIT for screening-eligible patients plus patient navigation for positive results) across race/ethnicity. The analysis included 3,734 patients at federally qualified health centers.” * * *
  • “This analysis showed that mailed colorectal cancer screening tests have the power to improve screening rates for diverse populations,” Ganguly said in a statement. “This is really important, because we want these innovations in screening to improve outcomes among the hardest to reach populations and move the needle on colorectal cancer disparities.”
    
• The American Journal of Managed Care tells us,
  • “Sudden death has long been considered an abrupt and unpredictable event in patients with heart failure
     (HF). But a new post hoc analysis of the FINEARTS-HF randomized clinical trial challenges that assumption, finding that most sudden deaths in patients with HF with mildly reduced ejection fraction (HFmrEF) or preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) are preceded by measurable clinical deterioration in the months before death.”

• According to Infectious Diseases Advisor,
  • “Maternal SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination during the third trimester reduces risk for infection and related hospitalization in infants through 6 months of age, highlighting the importance of maternal vaccine timing.”
    
• STAT News informs us,
  • “Otsuka’s Voyxact slowed the loss of kidney function after one year in patients with a chronic autoimmune kidney disease, but the benefit was less than expected and left room for competing treatments to perform better. 
  • “In a Phase 3 study, patients with IgA nephropathy, or IgAN, who received injections of Voyxact saw their kidneys lose function at an annualized rate of 3 points over one year compared to an annualized function loss of 7.6 points over one year for patients receiving a placebo, the Japanese drugmaker reported Thursday.” * * *
  • “While the relative improvement in kidney function was positive, the result was also less robust than what was seen in an earlier Otsuka study. The data left open the possibility that competing drugs from Vera Therapeutics and Vertex Pharmaceuticals may be able to show a larger effect on kidney function when their respective studies read out results.” 

From the U.S. healthcare business and artificial intelligence front,

• Beckers Payers Issues reports,
  • “UnitedHealth Group and CVS Health, Aetna’s parent company, are among the top 10 companies on the Fortune 500 this year.
  • “Fortune‘s June 3 list ranks the top 500 U.S. companies by revenue. Nine health payers [which are listed in the article] made the cut, with 2025 revenues ranging from $11.7 billion to $447.6 billion.
  • “UnitedHealth Group held its third-place standing from 2025. Amazon topped the list, ending Walmart’s 13-year tenure in the top spot.”

• Beckers Hospital Review relates,
  • “Brentwood, Tenn.-based Lifepoint Health has completed its acquisition of eight community hospitals from Louisville, Ky.-based ScionHealth.
  • “The hospitals are spread across six states, according to a June 2 news release. Lifepoint acquired:
    • “Bolivar Medical Center in Cleveland, Miss.
    • “Ennis (Texas) Regional Medical Center
    • “Livingston (Tenn.) Regional Hospital
    • “Logan (W.Va.) Regional Medical Center
    • “Palestine (Texas) Regional Medical Center
    • “Parkview Regional Hospital in Mexia, Texas
    • “St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston, Idaho
    • “Watertown (Wis.) Regional Medical Center
  • “Lifepoint originally signed an agreement to acquire the hospitals in March.
  • “ScionHealth said the eight hospitals will keep their current employees, providers and services. The company described the divestiture as part of a broader effort to strengthen its capital structure and focus on core operations.”

• Healthcare Dive adds,
  • “West Virginia University Health System has solidified the next phase in its plan to acquire Greensburg, Pennsylvania-based nonprofit Independence Health System, announcing this week the two parties had signed a definitive agreement to combine.
  • “As part of the deal, which was announced last year, WVU Health System will invest $800 million into Independence’s five hospitals in order to install a new electronic health record and upgrade the facilities.
  • “The health systems now expect the acquisition will close in September or October, pending regulatory approval.”

• Fierce Healthcare tells us,
  • “Due to advances in cancer treatment and early detection, the population of cancer survivors continues to grow, reaching more than 18 million individuals in the U.S. By 2035, that number is projected to exceed 22 million.
  • “But many cancer survivors have ongoing medical and mental health needs after cancer treatment ends. Faced with long-term side effects, behavioral health challenges and hormone therapies, many survivors are left to manage these healthcare challenges on their own.
  • “Value-based cancer care navigation company Thyme Care has expanded its cancer survivorship program, called Next Chapter Care, to provide a personalized, longitudinal approach to survivorship support. That program provides coordinated oncology support beyond active treatment for the more than 15,000 Thyme Care members who have completed cancer treatment.
  • “Rather than treating survivorship as a disconnected phase of care, the program extends the existing relationship Thyme Care already has with members across diagnosis, treatment and recovery, according to the company.”
• and
  • “Artificial intelligence-powered payer intelligence startup Anomaly Insights launched a new tool aimed at providing managed care executives with evidence to bring to payer negotiations. 
  • “Anomaly Insights seeks to take on what Anomaly CEO Mike Desjadon told Fierce Healthcare is an “adversarial payment system” in the U.S. healthcare industry. He added there is also a “fundamental asymmetry” in data between insurance companies and health systems. 
  • “It’s that asymmetry that allows an insurance company to basically make the health care system chase its tail with denials and all the things that they do with data,” Desjadon said. 
  • “Artificial intelligence-powered payer intelligence startup Anomaly Insights launched a new tool aimed at providing managed care executives with evidence to bring to payer negotiations. 
  • “Anomaly Insights seeks to take on what Anomaly CEO Mike Desjadon told Fierce Healthcare is an “adversarial payment system” in the U.S. healthcare industry. He added there is also a “fundamental asymmetry” in data between insurance companies and health systems. 
  • “It’s that asymmetry that allows an insurance company to basically make the health care system chase its tail with denials and all the things that they do with data,” Desjadon said. “

• Beckers Hospital Review points out,
  • “Active drug shortages in the U.S. rose for the second consecutive quarter in 2026, reaching 223 in the first quarter, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists — and the FDA’s database continues to reflect new discontinuations weekly. The database is updated daily to reflect manufacturing recoveries, regulatory actions and how shortages are classified — not solely day-to-day availability at the hospital level.”
  • The article also lists eight recent additions to the shortage list.